Cakes, cookies and horrors

To start I will link to the official wiki and do my best to denote what information is or isn't usable here. I may make a separate post to list all available in game jobs, but this guide is more focused on the mechanics of how they work.

If you want to see what jobs exist check out the job list here.

What information you CAN TRUST

Job name/theming

required skills listed

what industry/domain the job is tagged as

what "level" the job is

the job's company/employer and lot location

What is a LIE (said with love, they're doing their best)

skill based bonus pay (your skill level has 0 affect on your wage in game currently outside of tangential work performance effects)

"rank based" and "base pay" listings (these are meaningless, all jobs are rank based, and the jobs that are arbitrarily listed as otherwise are not necissarily more lucrative than other jobs)

company vibes? (admittedly not quite a lie, but not fully implemented and have a difficult to track effect if they are)

"special entry level jobs"

Job Pay and How Its Calculated

All Jobs rate of pay are calculated based on their Rank, Level, and any bonuses you have obtained through job perks. This section will focus on explaining Rank and Level

You can see a jobs rank in game displayed clearly both when you have the job in the job tab and listed next to a job when you direct your para to "look for job". Jobs have a technically invisible level stat as well, which can be reverse engineered by looking at the jobs starting rank when it is being offered as an open position.

All jobs have pay based on their Rank and Level. These terms are a bit confusing, as level is more like a "tier" and rank is more like the colloquial use of level as in leveling up a character in a video game.

You rank up your job over time with perk points by performing well at your job (this is its own system to be described in depth later). Increasing your rank will increase your daily pay by a fixed amount determined by the jobs level. This means that a higher level job of the same rank will pay more than a lower level job, and that is the bit of key info the game isn't good about telling you directly. The job's starting pay when it is listed is determined by the level and the rank it is being listed at.

There are 49 ranks in game, but only 5 level. You can easily tell what level a job is by what rank it is posted as when looking for a new job.

level 1

rank 1 entry level jobs when first posted as an opening. Hypothetically any job posted rank 9 and under, but currently all lvl 1 jobs post at rank 1

starts at 250₽

each rank adds 10₽ to pay

has 3 perk slots

level 2

rank 10-19 when first posted as an opening

starts at 435₽

each rank adds 15₽ to pay

has 4 perk slots

level 3

rank 20-29 when first posted as an opening

starts at 730₽

each rank adds 20₽ to pay

has 4 perk slots

level 4

rank 30-39 when first posted as an opening

starts at 1320₽

each rank adds 30₽ to pay

??? perk slots

level 5

rank 40-49 when first posted as an opening

starts at 2550₽

each rank adds 50₽ to pay

??? perk slots

Note that any job can reach rank 49, but it will only increase each rank by the amount associated with its level. There is no way to increase a job's level. You can become a rank 49 store clerk, but because each rank only increases your pay by 10₽ you will only be making 730₽ after your long slog of dedication, which is what the lowest rank level 3 job starts at.

There is now way to acquire a high level job at a rank lower than the ranks listed above. You can never have a rank 1 level 3 or 5 job. These jobs only become available at the ranks show.

There is an obvious degree of "higher level jobs are just better" but they require a lot of prerequisites to be met thanks to the way applying to jobs works in the game. Without going into too much detail on those systems yet, it is safe to say higher level jobs simply require time and dedication to acquire and are proportionally more difficult to obtain in accordance with the level. If you want your para to be a level 5 CEO, the easiest way to get there is to start at a level 1 job with the same skills required or at the same company and work your way up.

Note that the starting pay of a given job is the same as if you earned that rank manually. A rank 14 job will pay the same starting at rank 14 as if you started at rank 10 and ranked it up over time. It is only when you "pass" the starting offer range for a job level that it becomes lesser to jobs being offered at the same rank, because those jobs are a higher level. Eg, a rank 10-19 job will pay the same base as a new rank 10-19 job of the same rank, but once you hit rank 20 any new job posting will be a level 3 job, and therefore a large improvement.

Application System

To get a job in paralives, you click on your para or a computer, select "find a job", and browse through the menu that pops up showing the various jobs available.

Once again, which jobs show up is inconsistent and randomized, every day different jobs will be available. The job list is static for the day and does not change between paras, it refreshes presumably at midnight like the collectables do. A given Job's level is fixed, but on different days you may see it being offered at different ranks. For example the level 2 audio engineer job might be posted as a rank 10 opening one day but rank 14 on another. Its pay will be scaled accordingly the same as if you had ranked the job up by working it and spending points.

When you click on a job and choose a schedule it will ask you if you want to apply. This erroneously implies (especially in a game with a lot of rng elements) there is a chance that, once you click on the job, you can be rejected. Rest assured this is not the case.

The game will not let you "apply" to a job you are not qualified for, these jobs will be greyed out.

When you mouse over a job it will show you your Application Points. The system is fairly simple and straight forward (huzzah!) if your Application Points total higher than the jobs Rank, you can apply. It even does you the favor of breaking down what factors into the application points for that jobs, so if you see a job you want but cannot apply to, you can set about improving the areas needed to be able to when it shows up again.

Application points are calculated by:

Skill: whatever skills the job requires it will count your current level in those skills.

Job Experience: whatever rank you have had in the same industries. eg, if you were a rank 7 waiter, you will get 7 points when applying to other jobs in the food or service industries, as that job has both of these tags.

Charisma Bonus: your charisma stat is added to the application total

Internal Bonus: applying to a job in the same company give a flat bonus of 3 points per your current jobs level.* Applying from a level 2 job awarded 6 points. I assume the pattern continues but have not observed it personally.

Vibe Bonuses: more information needed. serious vibe seems to always adds a flat bonus of 2, I think some jobs may give bonuses for other vibes. (but this isn't something you can change or improve in normal gameplay, and it will show up if it is a factor)

Career Improvement Gameplay Loop

For me, the lack of information made the way jobs worked initially look kind of depressing and realistic in ways that were unsettling. There is a degree of modern realism opposed to the sims 90s based "you move up in your same job forever" approach that no longer really exists, but it is far less dystopic or existential than I initially feared. I say this because most of us are coming from the sims and the jarringness of the difference in approach can be a bit hard to understand.

You are expected to change jobs in this game. It is normal and encouraged, and generally a net benefit. But like in the real world it does come with some drawbacks and growing pains.

The gameplay loop expects you to get a level 1 job, rank it up a few times while also improving relevant skills, and then move on to a level 2 job probably within a week or so depending on the position. And then repeat up to higher jobs.

Over the course of an in game day, you can hypothetically drastically increase your application point total, especially earlier in the game when skills level up faster. If you have other application bonuses from charisma, internal application, or vibe, you can reach 10 points for a tier two job quickly, thought it may take some in game days or luck for a rank 10 position in the relevant field to open. But in the time you are waiting for that to happen, you will probably get enough points to apply to a rank 12 or 14 position anyway.

While you have a (not guaranteed) chance of increasing your jobs rank every day at work, you can jump up several ranks and even a level by getting a new job. Generally, moving to a new job/position is a faster and larger pay increase than ranking up a job. Even if you are moving between level 3 jobs, if you have the application points but a higher rank job just wasn't available before, it is faster to move to a new rank 29 job than level up to rank 29 from rank 20. However other factors like the jobs schedule or theming may play a factor.

"Jobs" in this game also refers to individual positions, so you can be "promoted" within a company by applying internally, which is a bit closer to how that works in the real world today. While you currently have to quit your current job to do this, the spirit of the mechanic is more meant to represent you moving up in your company, which is why you get that 3 point internal application bonus.

The point and beauty of this system is its flexibility. The intent is to work your way up through increasingly better jobs, but you can have a para grind out a skill and jump straight into a higher paying career if they have the application points. You can tell stories of a rock star who started out frying chicken or a shut in who was abruptly discovered and jumped right into a high paying career.

Perks

The only downside switching jobs is it wipes your perks. When you have a job, you engage with the performance system (which has its own guide coming soon) to earn perk points. You use these points to rank up your job or give it a perk card. Perks can range from monetary wage increases to passive skill gains to shorter work hours to social benefits with coworkers. Every time you get a perk point, you will get a random pool of perks to pick from, like with other card based systems in the game. You do not have any control over what kind of perks show up.

Technically speaking, with perks, you can have the "equivalent" of a much higher level job at a lower level by choosing perks that increase your pay. You would obviously still have a chance to earn much more at a higher level job, but it is a helpful option if say, you really want your para to be a principle for story reasons. This also increases the difficulty of switching jobs, as you may technically have to take a temporary pay cut for the "potential" of a higher wage later. Depending on how old your para is that potential could mean a lot more money with patience or never be met before they retire.

There are only a handful of level 4 and 5 jobs in the game currently. Some industries/domains do not have any. This is clearly an early access ism. For the time being rest assured thank level 3 pay, even without perks, from 1 para is more than enough to accomplish in game wealth based life goals.

For those curious, there are 2 level 5 jobs, both titled CEO one purely management and one tagged management and science. There are 7 other assorted level 4 management jobs (one of which is a chef and also tagged for food), and 2 level 4 music industry jobs, one in medicine and one in science. There are no jobs above rank 3 in service, art, handy, teaching, software development, or fitness.

Other Notes and Mechanics

☙ There is a big gap between level 1 and 2 jobs. Both level 2 and 3 jobs it is easy to earn a very comfortable amount and achieve wealth based life goals with a perk or two or higher rank.

☙ Some jobs do not have required skills. I do not believe they are "incomplete" because of early access, but an intentional variant. These jobs may be harder to apply to but they are much easier to maintain, as they do have increasing skill requirements relating to performance when you rank them up. It is a trade off.

☙ The science industry is currently a bit on fire. It has no entry level positions (which is not inherently problematic on its own) and require in game skills that are broken and have no way to be learned outside of job perks. It is possible to break into, but it would involve having to "tag" in from the art or teaching industries (there are a few art/science jobs and teaching/science jobs you can use to gain industry experience points)

☙ jobs under the same company can be in entirely unrelated fields and will not grant relevant experience. Eg, being a janitor at the space agency will give you 3 points of internal bonus, but will not count as science industry experience.

☙ There are no job related cheats useful for easy "storytelling purposes" eg way to forcibly set a para to have a higher rank job off the bat, edit their application point values, etc. If you would like to cheat your para to a better job, you still have to give them start at rank 1 and use the cheat to grant perk points to rank it up to get industry experience, and then are still beholdened to the in game job posting rng.

☙ The highest possible salary in the game at rank 49 in a level 5 job is 3k per day. Rank 49 in a level 4 job is 1890, and in a level 3 is 1310.

☙ Schedules vary, and some jobs may offer an option of shifts. Jobs have between 5-7 hours of work in a day and between 3-5 days a week. since you are being paid per day, be weary of jobs with only 3 work days a week unless you are looking to work multiple jobs

☙ consequently, you can work multiple jobs so long as the schedules do not conflict

☙ as far as I can tell, quitting a job currently has no negative impact other than "resetting" perks/rank. There is nothing stopping you from reapplying to the job later.

☙ you can earn vacation days via various perk cards. These are different from your days off, these are paid vacation days that let you skip a day you would normally work and still get paid. Most perk cards I have seen grant them based on some kind of chance or trigger, like "33% if x condition is met" or "gain one once a week on Monday"